12 Years A Slave

The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass is an enticing tale of Douglas as he changes from slave to man. Near the beginning of the book, his first witness of a whipping reveals the entrance to the horrors that would come throughout his experience with enslavement. “No words, no tears, no prayers, from his gory victim…” (4) it displays the physical, emotional, and spiritual breaking of an individual; powerful words to create an understanding of the terror of slavery. Beating into absolute submission strikes a sense of sadness, pity, justice in the reader that encourages them to see slavery in a different light. Throughout his narrative he continues to attack these points to encourage similar feelings of pity and acknowledgement “to enlighten white readers about both the realities of slavery as an institution and the humanity of black people as individuals deserving of full human rights.”.

Throughout the narrative, the author includes his personal stories about experiencing the violence of slavery first-hand. For example, on page 20, he writes about the first time he witnessed a slave, his own aunt, getting the whip. “The louder she screamed, the harder he whipped; and where the blood ran fastest, there he whipped longest…I remember the first time I ever witnessed this horrible exhibition… It struck me with awful force. It was the blood-stained gate, the entrance to the hell of slavery…” The author including his experience of his aunts whipping, in detail, appeals to the emotions of the reader.

Douglass puts to use personification and metaphors to show the path needed to end slavery. When speaking on the state of slavery in current times Douglass mentions, “Great streams are not easily turned from channels, worn deep in the course of ages”. This language refers to the institution of slavery and the large changes needed to change it. The metaphor hopes to portray the task of ending slavery to the audience. In addition, Douglass states, “above your national, tumultuous joy, I hear the mournful wail of millions!”.

In the Narrative of Frederick Douglass, Douglass is tasked with not only making a case for abolitionism, but also making this case to an audience that contributes to and benefits from slavery. As such, he must provide an account that is equal parts believable and moving, all the while treading the line of not alienating his target audience of white women. However, through his depiction of slavery as a corrosive agent on the family structure and ideals, Douglass makes a sentimental appeal to white women. Douglass begins by calling attention to the grave impact slavery has on the family life of the slave, starting with Douglass himself. While Douglass’s Narrative is most immediately an autobiographical text, his status as a slave severely limits his account from adhering to its structure.

Through his story, Douglass proves that slavery has negative effects on slaveholders. He uses imagery, flashbacks, and characterization to persuade the reader of the true nature of slavery. His deep thoughts and insights of slavery and the unbalanced power between a slaveholder and his slave are unprompted for a social establishment. Douglass insists that slaveholding fills the soul with sadness and bitter anguish. In addressing effects of slavery on masters cause one man to rethink his moral character and better understand the laws of humanity.

Black women are treated less than because of their ascribed traits, their gender and race, and are often dehumanized and belittled throughout the movie. They are treated like slaves and are seen as easily disposable. There are several moments throughout the film that show the racial, gender, and class inequalities. These moments also show exploitation and opportunity hoarding. The Help also explains historical context of the inequality that occurred during that time period.

The narrator’s blatant disregard for his people is demonstrated when he expresses “how [he] hated the black-belt people, the peasants” (Ellison 47) because their depraved status threatened his own role as a model black student and citizen. 2. The derogatory manner in which he refers to the black sharecroppers – especially Jim Trueblood - indicates that he places personal advancement over the advancement of his own race. a. Even during the battle royal, the narrator’s arrogant sense of superiority over the other blacks

Throughout this autobiography, Frederick Douglass reaches out to his readers to be compassionate to slaves, and persuades them using rhetorical devices when recounting his life's story. He uses striking imagery describing the pain his body endures in order to show how dehumanized slaves are and make their pain tangible to his northern audience, as well as builds his credibility to the readers by bringing up facts and stories of his first hand experience through life as a slave, while also gaining their sympathy. Exploiting the abuse of slaves, Frederick Douglass uses imagery of the interactions between his owner and his aunt, Hester, to enlighten and horrify readers about how these people were dehumanized by their owners and environment, and Douglass desires readers to sympathize.

Utilizing ethos, logos, pathos, and empathy, Douglass paints the portrait of his life as complete as possible, laying bare the horrors of slavery and calling for action. He creates a narrative flow that encapsulates the reader into himself, and forces them through the hell he crawled through to give them these few but full pieces of paper. All the anger, pain, hope, desire, bravery, and fear. Every emotion, every lashing, every aching step is summarized and imprinted into the reader for the sake of humanity’s collective soul, and for the salvation and deliverance of those in bondage. Had Frederick Douglass not have the strong grasp on literature, we might not ever have had such a complete picture of slavery, and might not have solved the issue as completely as we

This shows the audience that they cannot be obdurate by eschewing the truth of slavery and that they should not be celebrating. They feel driven to want to correct themselves -- stop celebrating -- by

The Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass presents an insight into the power differences between a slave and his master. In this account , Douglass proves that slavery destroys not only the slave but also the owner. The “poison of irresponsible power” that masters hold has a damaging effect on their morals and beliefs (Douglas 39). This immense control in the hands of a person will break their kind heart and finest feelings turning them into those of a demon. Douglass uses flashbacks , deep characterization, and appeals to the emotions to address the negative effects of slavery.

Through Douglass’s writing, the reader learns of how slavery takes its toll, not just on the slaves, but on everyone involved. Even the purest soul is destroyed, both the slave and the slave

1. Explain the author's primary point. The author seeks to bring to light the unfair treatment of the Negros by the whites in the places they live in. He also seeks to show that leaders only make empty promises to their people. Brutal cases are most among the Negros as they are attacked and their cases go unnoticed or ignored.

The movie clearly exposes the many ways that the human dignity of African- American maids was ignored. They had suffered daily embarrassment but were able to claim their own way dignity. The film described about empowerment of individuals as well as about social justice for a group. It is a moving story depicting dehumanization in a racist culture but also the ability to move beyond the unjust structures of society and to declare the value of every human being.

In addition, the juxtaposition between what Marlow sees as irritating for himself and the slave’s difficult work demonstrates the different perspectives of the white and black people working for The Company. Conrad’s comment displays how humanity and society have different expectations of different people and how those expectations change the way people are treated. Marlow also struggles to find an appropriate name to call the